HALLS — A Baptist church in Halls voted Sunday to give the fellowship hall coffee urn a standing committee, because members wanted a say in how the coffee is made. Del Pruitt, who has made the coffee every Sunday for years, was named chairman without being asked. He kept the key to the urn, since he still has to make the coffee.
Pruitt was in the kitchen when the vote was taken and heard about it afterward from the pastor’s wife, Linda Hatcher. “I came out with the cups and they were all clapping, and I figured somebody had a baby, so I started to say congratulations, and Linda said no, it’s you. I said what’s me. She said chairman. I said chairman of what, and she pointed at the urn,” he said.
Committee business now starts while Pruitt is still getting the grounds into the basket. The first request, to discuss coffee strength, arrived Sunday written on the back of a prayer list, and he moved it away from the wet part of the counter.
“I’ll look at it here in a minute,” Pruitt said. “Ruth, could you get that plug? It’s slipped down behind there again.”
Committee member Ruth Collins said members would like to try a different brand. She brought the empty bag from home as an example but needed it back, because her shopping list was on it. The discussion of the bag went on while Pruitt wiped up a spill and found the powdered creamer for a member who had been looking right at it. He agreed to put the brand on the agenda once somebody brought some.
After Sunday school, Pruitt waited for the urn to cool before carrying it to the sink.